Saoghail Språk
Saoghail Språk (roughly translated to "Sacred Tongue" in Common) is an ancient dialect spoken by the hub-ward tribe Clann av Sjøen. It is also referred to as An Språk ("The Tongue") and Uråldrig Bruidhinn ("Ancient Speak"). Background/Origins Saoghail Språk was formed many millennia ago, though not known exactly when. Before there was a Common language, Humans had many different dialects that they spoke across countless tribes and primal societies. There was never a need to develop a Common tongue because for the most part, tribes didn't mix with each other or interact with each other outside of the occasional conflict. As humans became more populous, they began to interact with each other, as well as encounter the other races, more frequently. The three seafaring tribes, however, interacted with the world outside of their tribes more than any others. It soon became apparent to the leaders of those tribes that they couldn't afford to be fighting themselves every time they set sail, all it did was make them too weak to explore the world. A meeting was called between these three tribes: The Gaels, The Íslen Fæddur, and The Svenska, to establish peace. The meeting took almost 2 full weeks to resolve as they had to come up with a means of communicating non-verbally in order to bypass the language barrier. The result of the meeting was the formation of The Mòd-Ceartais (roughly translated to "The Tribunal" in Common, named by the Gales), a conglomeration of their tribes to form one single seafaring tribe. They called themselves the Clann av Sjøen, named in all three of their dialects to mean "Children of the Sea". The tribes, now working closely with each other, began to learn pieces of each other's dialects. After a few generations the dialects melded with each other, and Saoghail Språk was born. Grammar An Språk has little to no grammatical rules. Because the language formed as an informal mixture of the 3 other languages, rules were never really written or ever existent. If a phrase was said one way it's usually just because that was the easiest way to say the phrase while still getting your point across. As a result, Saoghail Språk doesn't have a single word to describe a single idea, instead they have multiple different words across 3 dialects to describe one idea. Over time certain translations developed different contextual meanings outside of their literal meanings causing members of the Clann to use certain translations over other in different situations. For example: Språk and Bruidhinn are, for all intents and purposes, describing the same thing but they are used in different contexts because they have developed slightly different meanings over the years. This is also done in Common, take the terms "hole" and "pit". Technically you could use both words to describe the same object, but one is usually used within a different context than the other. Cultural Significance While the Clann often speak Common in informal/everyday settings, Saoghail Språk is the first language they learn as children (as is customary). It is also always spoken within formal settings, as it is considered a sign of respect to speak it to another member. For the same reason, it is not typically spoken to anyone outside the Clann, though this is not an enforced rule but merely social standard, as most outside the Clann don't full understand it's significance. It is also widely believed that Saoghail Språk has inherent magic properties, though this has never really been verified as most members of the Clann are not very magically adept and An Språk isn't known to people outside of the Clann. Category:Resources